Free at last!

Today was a momentous day - I finally got around to putting primer on the Estes Skylance. 

Skylance in primer (Click to enlarge).

Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is. After having several unfinished rockets lying around for months (years), I made a vow that I would attempt no new builds of significance until I cleared the backlog - and the Skylance is the last of that lot. I'm pretty good at finishing off rockets once they hit primer, as the bulk of the sanding is behind me at that point. Where I suck is the procrastination between the construction and the start of finishing - that twilight zone is where the rockets can remain trapped for many moons.

However, the Skylance has left the workbench and is now well on its way to the final decor of white with gold fins and nose cone. I even worked on the decal, grabbing the name from the plan sheet. All is good - I can hear the Astron Delta parts calling me from their bag, ready to be assembled into a 2 stage masterpiece for lofting my old Estes Camroc.

Skylance decal (Click to enlarge).

Except the Delta may have to wait a little bit longer, because I have been distracted by the evil Bill Eichelberger. An expert at creating clones and facsimiles of old rockets, it was he who asked for information concerning the old Centuri Sabre on Ye Old Rocket Forum. It was he who instigated the posting of the plans, parts list and decals for that kit. And it was he who uploaded pictures of the Sabre on the pad, ready to fly, in a recent Facebook post. And so I succumbed to the lure of the Sabre, putting the Delta off to another date.

Sabre face card (Click to enlarge).

It's an easy build - plastic PNC-20N nose cone, 9.75 inch body tube, forward raked fins, etc., etc. I'm not a big fan of forward raked fins - they just don't seem natural - but this model has an appeal. And the best thing is that I can start the build this weekend without suffering pangs of guilt over unfinished birds. The Delta is just a pile of parts in a bag - it can wait.